Persons constrained to use wheel chairs find access to many houses barred by stairs leading from an entrance level to the main floor level, typically two or three steps higher. A typical entrance of the type in question has a relatively narrow, small vestibule between the entrance door and the stairs. The inherent space limitations of such an arrangement prevent the use of known lifts, for example that disclosed in Del Vecchio et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,402.
In the Del Vecchio et al device, the lifting platform is located at the bottom of a set of collapsing stairs so that the entire unit can be placed on the vertical face of a raised structure. A device of this sort used in the environment in question would require location of the lifting platform in the vestibule at the bottom of the stairs. The platform may require safety railings, which would interfere with access to the platform and could interfere with opening of a door into the vestibule. The use of stairs which rise to a level with the upper floor requires the use of side panels on each side of the stairs and a movable hand rail arrangement. All of these problems make such a device unsuitable for the present purposes.
The intent of the present invention is to provide a combined stair and lift suitable for use in the restricted space normally encountered in a house.